


for those days to come

by chameleonchanging



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-02-23 13:04:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23711977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chameleonchanging/pseuds/chameleonchanging
Summary: Plo is good with children. That’s a good trait in a Mando spouse, but maybe Wolffe needs a little nudge to see it that way, instead of as “yet another way I can be trolled”.
Relationships: Plo Koon/CC-3636 | Wolffe
Comments: 24
Kudos: 219
Collections: Star Wars Alternate Universes





	for those days to come

Wolffe has a complicated relationship with children. He hasn’t been around very many of them. Or rather, he has, but they’ve been brothers and moreover soldiers he was responsible for training. Somewhere in his brain he has a faint understanding that he can’t deal with nat-borns the way he would a squad of trainees, but he has no idea how he  _ should _ act. When the Crechemaster plops a very tiny Jedi shiny into his arms, he’s sure his expression would not be out of place on someone discovering that Demagol was hiding in his closet. His wide-eyed pleas for immediate extraction are brushed off with a chuckle; Plo’s clearly never been on the recieving end of a primed high explosive. 

The shiny smiles at him and claps. Wolffe prays Plo comes back soon with backup. The Force is basically a god, right?

As he watches, Plo reenters the room and a Nautolan child runs up to him, crashing against his legs with a squealed, “Ma’ Po!” Plo picks her up and sets her against his hip, leaning his head away when she makes a grab for his mask. 

“No, Anya, I need that,” he says indulgently, tapping her on the nose with one long talon. She goes cross-eyed. “Like your friend Sha.” 

“Sa!” Anya laughs. Plo sidles up to Wolffe.

“Would you like to meet my friend?” he asks. “This is Wolffe. He is very special to me.”

“Wuf!” says Anya. Privately, Wolffe thinks she sounds like Cody when he’s in a mocking mood, but his heart softens a little bit anyway when she reaches for him. Too late, he realizes that Plo is a sucker for shinies and will fold like a deck of cards at the first sign of wanting, and he finds himself holding Anya instead while Plo makes circles of the creche, bouncing his new shiny in his arms.

“Help,” he croaks, and Anya shrieks with laughter. 

* * *

That would be the end of it, except that the Council wants Plo to play messenger to Shaak Ti on Kamino. They land as a storm is beginning, making it near impossible to leave for a few days, so Wolffe resigns himself to a stay on his least favourite planet in the galaxy. Home sweet home. 

He’s heard plenty about the changes to training since General Ti took over. The newest brothers to join them on the front - old enough to remember the Cuy’val Dar - seem to worship her; she’s stopped the culls, they say, she’s let them use their names. She also, apparently, believes in kindergarten for the youngest brothers. Nobody mentioned that part. When he and Plo find General Ti, she’s surrounded by a platoon’s worth of brothers, running around and playing with blocks and puzzles. They’re still educational, but the atmosphere is entirely different from what Wolffe remembers from his own training. 

“Master Ti,” Plo greets warmly, bowing.

“Master Koon,” General Ti answers, returning the gesture. “Commander Wolffe, I am glad to see you. Are you well?”

“Yes, General,” says Wolffe. It seems like an odd question. 

“She means is your  _ jetti _ a  _ sheb’ika _ ,” one of the brothers pipes up from her side. Wolffe nearly chokes. Plo chuckles. 

“I think I ought to be elsewhere for this conversation,” he says. “Shaak, why don’t I watch your class for you while you and the Commander go for a stroll?”

“Certainly,” says General Ti. “Shall we, Commander?” 

He escorts her from the classroom, down the hallways to an observation floor, where the ocean is on full display and lightning strikes the waters. Wolffe can’t help but let his lips curl a little at the bolts landing; it reminds him of Plo. 

“I heard about Umbara,” says the General, and Wolffe’s smile disappears.

“Sir,” he says.

“I won’t let it happen again,” she says. “Your brothers who are here now will learn to question that kind of callous disregard for their lives. They will be comfortable speaking up. I will do my best to ensure it. But many of you are among the stars already, and I fear you will not speak for yourselves.”

“Plo isn’t that kind of man,” says Wolffe. “I thought you’d know that, being on the Council together and all, sir.”

“Someone must have your best interests in mind,” says the General. “We thought we knew Dooku. We thought we knew Krell. I will not assume I know Plo.” Her gaze falls heavily on him. “If not for yourself, then for your brothers. How are you, Commander?”

“I’m . . .”

He doesn’t know how to describe it. He’s on a planet with a man he would follow anywhere, and he knows if he walked back into that room now, Plo would be drawn to him like a moth to the sun, whatever other distractions were vying for his attention. It’s more than he ever thought he would have. It’s more than he ever dreamed of. He has his brothers and his squad and his divine purpose, and more than that, he has a future now that doesn’t end in fire and blood. Plo didn’t give that to him, no, but he made it possible for Wolffe to make for himself: a vision of waking up next to his partner in their home on a day off, sharing a plate of breakfast and a mug of caf, and maybe there would be children too, either Plo’s next padawan or someone Wolffe finds who needs someone to dote on them. 

“I’m good,” he says. “Really good, General Ti. Plo isn’t someone you need to worry about in relation to the vode. He’s earned our respect many times over.”

“I’m glad,” says the General. 

When they loop back to the classroom, Plo has the holoprojector out to show everyone where Shili is. One particularly brave brother has clambered into his lap, and Plo moves around him, drawing out constellations with the tip of his talon for the class. Plo smiles as they enter but continues his impromptu tour, and Wolffe thinks  _ we could raise warriors together _ .


End file.
